Inflatable water-resistant life-saving apparatus

ABSTRACT

A gas inflatable belt or bag actuatable by a wearer to give instant buoyancy if in difficulties, however caused, in water, the belt or bag being fastenable deflated around the mid- or upper-part of a wearer&#39;&#39;s body and being inflatable by gas under pressure released by a puncturing mechanism incorporated in a fastening means for the belt or bag thereby immediately to flat up under a wearer&#39;&#39;s armpits to keep head and shoulders above water.

United States, Patent [191 Feb. 11, 1975 Geary [54] INFLATABLE WATER-RESISTANT 2,451,475 10/1948 Craig et al. 9/316 2,769,220 11/1956 Harley 24/193 LIFE SAVING APPARATUS 3.302.224 2/1967 Boucher 9/316 [76] lnventor: Neil Driscoll Geary, 73 Northcote Ave., Swansea, New South Wales, Australia [22] Filed: Apr. 20, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 352,918

[52] US. Cl. 9/316 [51] 1nt.Cl. 1363c 9/16 [58] Field of Search 9/311, 314, 316, 319, 320, 9/329, 334342; 222/5; 24/170, 193, 192, 191

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,314,859 3/1943 Straits 24/192 2,324,744 7/1943 Ward .1 9/316 Primary ExaminerTrygve M. Blix Assismn! Examiner-Paul E. Sauberer Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Edward C. Threedy [57] ABSTRACT A gas inflatable belt or bag actuatable by a wearer to give instant buoyancy if in difficulties, however caused, in water, the belt or bag being fastenable deflated around the midor upper-part of a wearer's body and being inflatable by gas under pressure released by a puncturing mechanism incorporated in a fastening means for the belt or bag thereby immedi ately to flat up under a wearer's armpits to keep head and shoulders above water.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENIEU FEB! I 1915 SHEEI 1 OF 3 PATENTEI] FEB] 1 i975 SHEEI 2 OF 3 INFLATABLE WATER-RESISTANT LIFE-SAVING APPARATUS SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The death toll from drowning has reached proportions where it would be desirable for all surfers, water skiers, sailing enthusiasts, and children and others who enter water without being able to swim, to be equipped with a light, economical, easily inflatable and deflatable device which could be worn in the water without discomfort and without impeding progress and yet which could be easily and quickly inflated to form a flotation device if required by a wearer. Hitherto there is no such known device. Known inflatable rubber or plastic floats need to be blown up by mouth or by means ofa pump, and devices which are worn on the body are already in flated when a wearer enters the water and are cumbersome and unsightly.

Consequently, most surfers do not wear any emergency inflatable article when entering the water and if a surfer encounters difficulties and has to be rescued by a surf life-saver, the present procedure is that the lifesaver enters the water wearing a non-inflatable canvas belt to which is attached a tow line at the end of which tow line is a torpedo buoy which the life-saver has to maneuver out to the person in difficulties and when there, get the person to hold onto the buoy.

The object of the present invention is to provide a means for quickly and easily inflating a life-saving device which is worn as an article of clothing by a wearer but which may, if need arises, be inflated by the means according to the invention, to serve as a flotation device and consequently as a life-saving device.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a gas inflatable belt or bag actuatable by a wearer to give instant buoyancy if in difficulties, however caused, in water, the belt or bag being fastenable deflated around the midor upper-part of a wearers body and being inflatable by gas under pressure released by a puncturing mechanism incorporated in a fastening means for the belt or bag thereby immediately to float up under the wearers armpits to keep head and shoulders above water.

The term gas inflatable belt or bag is also intended to include articles of clothing incorporating a gas inflatable belt or bag which is fastenable deflated around a wearers body.

Desirably the belt or bag may be of tubular form and is made from water and abrasion resistant material, preferably non-elastic, and the filling end of the belt or bag has affixed thereto a claspor bucklelike fastening mechanism, while the other end of the belt or bag is sealed and is formed into or has affixed thereto a flat extension strip which in use, together with a lengthadjusting ferrule, is locked within the said fastening mechanism.

The invention still further provides a fastening mechanism for a gas inflatable belt or bag as above defined, comprising a housing for one or more gas containers, a puncturing means to puncture the gas container or containers and inflate the belt or bag, actuating means to actuate the puncturing means, locking means to lock the belt or bag around a wearer's body, and attachment means to attach the fastening means to the said belt or bag.

Desirably the puncturing means and the locking means are both actuated by a wearer-operable lever,

full traverse of which actuates puncturing of the gas cylinder and releases tension on the belt or bag, while full closure of the lever locks the inflated belt which can then be turned around the wearers body so bringing the greater area of inflated section to the front.

The lever may also be operated by means ofa lanyard or the like attached thereto and also attached to the belt adjacent the other end of the belt. This enables a wearer to operate the lever no matter in which position around the body the fastening means happens to be.

The fastening mechanism may be attached to the open or filling end of the belt or bag in an airand water-tight manner by any suitable means. For example. the housing of the fastening mechanism may be provided with a neck over which the open or filling end of I the belt or bag may be engaged and may be affixed thereto by means ofa sealing gasket and, if desired, additionally with a watertight adhesive or sealer.

The invention will now be further described by way of example with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of an inflatable belt with a combination fastening and inflation means according to the invention shown in closed position;

FIG. 2 is a partly cut-away perspective view of the combination fastening and inflation means of FIG. 1 in open position;

FIG. 3 is a plan view, partly cut away, of the same fastening and inflation means; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional end view of the same fastening and inflation means.

Referring now to the drawings, a water safety belt comprises an inflatable bag 11 of tubular form made from suitable water and abrasion resistant material, preferably non-elastic and preferably of solid color, such as yellow, which is easily identifiable when in use. The bag 11 is sealed at one end and a flat, uninflatable extension strip 5 made from the same material extends from the closed end of the bag 11 and is held in a releasable engagement around a ferrule adjuster I, mounted in a housing 13. The other or filling end 14 of the bag 11 is securely attached with an airtight seal 9 around one end of a box-like container 15 made from sheet metal or other suitable material and containing therein two gas cylinders 16 and 17, such as Sparklets (Trademark), one 16 for immediate use and the other 17 as a spare. The container 15 is provided with a lid 7 hinged at 18 and having a rolled edge or flange 19 adapted releasably to engage with a mating recess 20 provided in the housing 13. The housing 13 is also provided with another recess 21 which is adapted releasably to mate with a rolled edge or flange 22 on the container 15.

A U-shaped lever 6 actuatable by a combined handle and safety catch 10 which desirably is marked with indicia such as Pull to Inflate," is pivotally mounted in the container 15 and is pivoted integrally with a camoperated roller 3 which is co-axially mounted on the lever 6. A pressure plate 4 has a U-shaped cross section and is mounted in the container 15 by means of pins 23 (one shown in FIG. 4). A pressure pad 2 is affixed to the side of the pressure plate 4 remote from the gas containers. The pressure plate 4 is so dimensioned that movement of the lever handle 10 and consequently the lever and co-axial roller 3, moves the pressure plate between a position where the belt is uninflated and the pressure pad 2 presses against the ferrule adjuster l to engage the extension strip therebetween in a tensioned or unextended position, and a position where the pressure plate 4 presses against the end of the gas cylinder 16 to move same onto a puncturing probe 8 mounted on a support 24 in the end wall 27 of the container 15, while simultaneously disengaging the pressure pad 2 and releasing tension on the belt. Passages 25 in the end wall 27 allow the gas contained under pressure in the cylinder 16 to escape into the bag 1], thereby inflating same.

In operation, a water safety belt as illustrated and described above is first placed around a wearer's waist, the length of the belt is adjusted to size by means of the extension strip 5 and the ferrule adjuster l, the housing 13 is clasped into the container 15, and the lever handle is moved to the fully closed position as shown in H6. 1. Pressure from the pressure plate 4 acting on the pressure pad 2 holds the belt tensioned to any size as adjusted. if and when it is desired to inflate the belt, the wearer merely pulls the lever handle 10 up and over to full traverse position, as shown in FIG. 2, thereby moving the pressure plate 4 against the gas cylinder 16 and consequently onto the puncturing probe 8, thereby instantaneously releasing the gas and inflating the belt. At the same time, the pressure pad 2 is moved out of engagement with the ferrule adjuster l and the end of the extension strip 5 is released so that the inflated belt may move up freely under the wearers armpits. To prevent over-run of the extension strip 5, the end thereof may be widened, for example, into an arrow head shape as shown at 26.

if it is desired to deflate the belt after use, the handle 10 is released to the fully open position, the lid 7 is disengaged from the housing 13 and fully opened, the empty gas cylinder is removed from the container 15, thereby releasing the gas from the bag 11, and then the belt is folded for storage. A fresh gas cylinder is replaced in position and the belt is again ready for use.

Suitable materials for constructing the inflatable belt or bag of the invention may be, for example, rubberized nylon or nylon reinforced vinyl.

It will immediately be appreciated that the gas inflatable belt or bag of the invention may have many uses. For example, instead of a lifesaver towing a torpedo buoy out to persons in distress, he could merely clasp on several belts according to the invention, unclasp one end and place it around a victims waist, then inflate the belt and pass on to the next victim.

Further it is envisaged that articles such as paraplegic bathing costumes could be provided with inflating means in accordance with the invention.

Obviously, variations in construction and operation are possible within the am bit of the invention, and it is not intended to limit the invention to the actual examples mentioned above.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. A fastening mechanism to attach a gas inflatable belt about a wearer's body, comprising a. a locking means for securing said belt under tension about the wearer,

b. a housing for gas containers.

c. a puncturing means to puncture said gas containers and inflate the belt,

d. actuating means to actuate the puncturing means,

e. a wearer operable lever including said actuating means to actuate said puncturing means to puncture said gas containers and inflate said belt, with said lever simultaneously releasing said locking means so that the belt is unfastened about the body of the wearer and free to float up under the wearer's arms during inflation of the belt.

2. A fastening mechanism as defined by claim 1, wherein said lever includes a cam-operated roller movable against said locking means for locking said belt about a wearers body when the lever is moved in one direction and with said cam-operated roller movable against said actuating means to actuate said puncturing means so as to release said gas pressure from said containers so as to inflate said belt.

3. A gas-inflatable belt inflatable by gas releasable from a pressurized container by a wearer to give instant buoyancy, comprising a. a tubular belt having one end fixed to a fastening means and its opposite end providing a substantially flat sealed strip,

b. a fastening means connected to said one end of said belt and providing a clasplike fastener member which together with a length adjusting ferrule receives said flat sealed strip to lock the same therein so as to fasten said belt around the body in a deflated condition,

c. a pressure releasing puncturing mechanism positioned within said fastening means for inflating said belt,

d. said fastening means and said puncturing mechanism actuated by a wearer operable lever so that by movement of said lever in one direction said puncturing mechanism is caused to release the gas from a pressure container to inflate the belt, with said lever unlocking said clasplike fastener member to release said belt so that the same may float up under the wearers arms.

4. A gas inflatable belt as defined in claim 3 including a safety stop means to prevent overrun of the belt during release of said fastening means during inflation. 

1. A fastening mechanism to attach a gas inflatable belt about a wearer''s body, comprising a. a locking means for securing said belt under tension about the wearer, b. a housing for gas containers, c. a puncturing means to puncture said gas containers and inflate the belt, d. actuating means to actuate the puncturing means, e. a wearer operable lever including said actuating means to actuate said puncturing means to puncture said gas containers and inflate said belt, with said lever simultaneously releasing said locking means so that the belt is unfastened about the body of the wearer and free to float up under the wearer''s arms during inflation of the belt.
 2. A fastening mechanism as defined by claim 1, wherein said lever includes a cam-operated roller movable against said locking means for locking said belt about a wearer''s body when the lever is moved in one direction and with said cam-operated roller movable against said actuating means to actuate said puncturing means so as to release said gas pressure from said containers so as to inflate said belt.
 3. A gas-inflatable belt inflatable by gas releasable from a pressurized container by a wearer to give instant buoyancy, comprising a. a tubular belt having one end fixed to a fastening means and its opposite end providing a substantially flat sealed strip, b. a fastening means connected to said one end of said belt and providing a clasplike fastener member which together with a length adjusting ferrule receives said flat sealed strip to lock the same therein so as to fasten said belt around the body in a deflated condition, c. a pressure releasing puncturing mechanism positioned within said fastening means for inflating said belt, d. said fastening means and said puncturing mechanism actuated by a wearer operable lever so that by movement of said lever in one direction said puncturing mechanism is caused to release the gas from a pressure container to inflate the belt, with said lever unlocking said clasplike fastener member to release said belt so that the same may float up under the wearer''s arms.
 4. A gas inflatable belt as defined in claim 3 including a safety stop means to prevent overrun of the belt during release of said fastening means during inflation. 